There has been a concerning rise in the number of children using single-use vapes across the North East, councillors have been told.
At a meeting of the Tyne and Wear Trading Standards Joint Committee on Thursday, members from a number of local councils were told about a worrying trend of youngsters using the devices, which began flooding onto the market last summer.
Vaping is usually marketed at those attempting to quit smoking, but councillors were told that many young people were being attracted by the designs and flavours on offer and were using them having never previously smoked.
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Newcastle City Council trading standards officer Paul Leighton called for an increase in regulation on vapes and issued a warning to parents about so-called "under the counter" devices. These are illegal vapes that may have higher nicotine content or more uses then is allowed by law, but are sold by some retailers due to the soaring demand.
Mr Leighton said: "They are pretty much everywhere and there are lots of reports of them being sold to children. There are also lots of reports of children taking up vaping rather than smoking tobacco.
"We do know that children are getting their hands on them. They're takin g them into schools and they're a real problem at the moment.
"Retailers know that they shouldn't be selling them but because of the demand on them they are willing to sell them.
"Personally I would like to see it go the way of tobacco, so standardised packaging and a restriction on flavours. There's no need for kiwi and watermelon flavoured vapes."
In November, a massive haul of illegal e-cigarettes worth £190,000 was seized in Newcastle by the trading standards team. The 24,000 vapes contained more than double the legal limit of nicotine and were being used by schoolchildren.
Councillors were told that volunteers who had gone into shops to purchase vapes were told to hold up a debit card or similar in order to fool CCTV and make it look like they had shown ID. One company said it saw a 279 per cent increase in sales of disposable vapes towards the end of 2021.
Newcastle City Council's Coun Irim Ali shared the officer's concerns and revealed she has had to deal with the issue first hand.
Speaking at the meeting, she said: "It's a huge problem in schools. We regularly see very young children vaping. These are quite attractive devices for young children.
"My youngest is 12 and has brought one back before. We took it off them and had words with the school, but the school say it's such a huge problem. They've banned it onsite but as soon as they get out the devices come out."
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